מענדעלע

In nayster tsayt hob ikh a sakh derhert fun di Barry Sisters: Jidish mit schvung! Ikh varshtey ober nit alts vertelekh funem lid, "zug es mir nokhamol". Ikh ken zey oykh nit finen in keynen fun meyn liderbikher, un ikh hob fun den a sakh. Efsher a Mendele khaverte vet kennen hobn rakhmones un schick mir di vertelekh? Wollt ich zey gefinen, wel ikh zey zingen oyfn gas: tsi s'iz aykh a gut sokh, az a jinger bokher zingt jidishe lidelekh oyfn gas? Un dos in Viskonsin!

A dank im foraus!

Alexander Maxwell

Moishe Kijak asked about the newspaper of Botvin-brigade [7.066]. The history of "Botvin" newspaper, Organ of Yiddish-speaking Soldiers in Spain, is described by Arno Lustiger in "Shalom Libertad! Juden im spanischen Burgerkrieg", Frankfurt am Main : Athenaum, 1989 (also in French translation, Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1991). Five issues of "Botvin" were published in Dec 1937, Jan, May, June, and Nov 1938. Lustiger also lists the content of all issues (p.322-323). "Botvin" was not the first Yiddish newspaper in Spanish Civil War. Earlier there was "Frayhayts Kemfer" (started in August 1937).

The anthem of Jewish fighters in Spain - "march der botvin-soldaten" by Olek Nuss was published in the 5th issue of "Botvin". Mendele has been in the _International_ist mood for awhile already, so I believe it would be appropriate to post the lyrics here (text was scanned from the Arno Lustiger's book, therefore the "daytshishe" transliteration):

wenn s'geien zum krieg republiks-batalionen, wenn s'blutikt die erd un es knallt der dynamit, bagleit a gesang die zerflaterte fohnen: dos geien die botwinzes zu der schlacht mit a lied. a lied vun hofenung un sieg vun milionen, wos willn lebn in freiheit un recht, wos schickt uns sturmen dem ssojnes kanonen un fihrt uns dreiste zum letztn gefecht No pasaran!

(Refrain) mutig, vorojs zum sturm zum atack geien mir, botwinistn! mit der brigade international, mit unser volksarmee.

uns einikt der hass zu die brojne banditn, wos willn varknechtn dos spanische land. mir welln die grin-rojte felder varhitn mit fohnen vun einheit un mit biks in der band. un in der brider-reih vun velker un rassn, wos willn mehr nischt varsshklafung un nojt, schmidn mir ojs dos gewehr vun die massn derfreiheits-volksfront vun scholem un brojt. No pasaran!

(Refrain) mutig, vorojs zum sturm zum atack...

mir welln nischt losn vun hand die gewehrn, asoj hot gelernt uns botwin, der held, bis s'wet uns die zukunft inganzn gehern, bis s'wet a bafreite sich zerblijen die welt. un in die naje un krieglose zeitn wet men dermonen ojch unser varmesst, wie s'hobn jidische botwin-soldatn vartriebn weit die faschistische pest. No pasaran!

(Refrain) mutig, vorojs zum sturm zum atack...

Other interesting references on this subject include:

Gina Birenzweig Medem, Los Judios voluntarios de la libertad: un ano de lucha en las Brigadas Internacionales, Madrid: Ediciones del Comisariado de las Brigadas Internacionales, 1937

T. Elski, Oyf di frantn fun Shpanye: reportazhn, Pariz: Tserata, 1939

Frayhayts-kemfer (Idishe militsyonern in Shpanye), Buenos Aires: CIAPE, 1939

Ephraim Wuzek, Zikhroynes fun a Botvinist, Varshe: Yidish Bukh, 1964

David Diamant, Yidn in shpanishn krig, 1936-1939, Varshe: Yidish Bukh, 1967

Benjamin Lubelski, Yidn in shpanishn birgerkrig, 1936-1939: fartseykhenungen fun a Yidishn frayvilikn, Tel-Aviv: Leyvik-farlag, 1984

Ruth Levin, ha-Yesharim hayu itah: Sefarad, 1936-1939, Tel-Aviv: Ofakim, 1987

Alexander Szurek, The shattered dream, New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1989

Iosif Vaisman Chapel Hill

Marjorie (Mirl) Schonhaut Hirshan quotes from a poem by Sutzkever in 7.063 and 7.064 about his mother's death during the Holocaust. I, too, wish I could read the Yiddish. As Marjorie points out, "Always, he enfolds us in his affinity to nature."

At another level Sutzkever reflects powerfully the Judaic evaluation of life as the supreme value, the obligations and responsibilities of the son to concentrate on living and so maintain continuity despite death. And so he suffers but transcends his pain. The article in Encyclopaedia Judaica about Abraham Sutzkever (by Israel Ch. Biletzky) includes these words, _The finest lyrics in Di Festung were about Sutzkever's mother, who had perished under the Nazis; she had exhorted him not to give way to despair because she would continue to live in him._

I was reminded of another compelling image of a long view by Sutzkever in a poem quoted by Dina Abramowicz in a paper entitled _Undzere Vortslen Zoln Nit Farvisht Vern...._ (Let Not Our Roots be Obliterated, in Yidishe Kultur, 8:37-43, Nov.-Dec., 1982). She writes in Yiddish of the Nazis' destruction of the YIVO holdings in Vilna. She goes on (my translation): _However, after a time, even they [the Nazis] perceived that their "culture-purification" was barbarous and worked against their interests: the materials could be used in their own research institutes, or sold for ready cash. They then ordered the Vilna Judenrat to appoint a committee of experts to select those materials of value. To that committee was appointed a group of learned people and writers, among them the scientific collaborator of YIVO, Zelik Kalmanovitsh, and the poet, Abraham Sutskever. This group truly displayed a spirit of self-sacrifice. Working under the watchful eye of the Gestapo who could have shot them to death on the spot for the slightest suspicion of illegal activity, they managed to rescue a number of rare books and documents, and smuggle them into the Ghetto._

Dina Abramowicz tells us that only a poet can express the pain suffered as they witnessed the destruction of Jewish treasures, and quotes a few stanzas of Sutzkever's poem, "Kernels of Wheat" (p. 40):

Heyln, derlangt zikh an efn, Tseshpalt zikh fun unter mayn hak! Eyder di koyl vet mikh trefn Ikh breng aykh matones a zak.

Altinke takhlisne dafn Mit purpur af zilberne hor, Verter af parmet, geshafn Durkh toyznter groyzike yor.

Vi baym bashitsn an ofl Ikh loyf mitn yidishn vort, Nishter in itlikhn heyfl, Der gayst zol nit vern dermordt.

Shtrek inem shayter di orems Un frey zikh; der iker iz do! Maynts un nokh Amsterdam, Vorms, Livorne, Madrid un YIVO.

O, vi mikh paynikt a sheyme Fartrogn in roykhike vint! S'vargt mikh lider geheyme: Bahalt undz in dayn labirint.

Grob ikh un flants manuskriptn, Un git mir der yiesh a fleyts, Kumt mir in zinen: Egiptn, A mayse mit kerndlekh veyts.

The title's explanation is exhilarating. Sutzkever called the poem _Kernels of Wheat_ because he was reminded in his despair of once reading about kernels of wheat found in an Egyptian pyramid. After thousands of years, they were planted in fresh earth and sprouted, came to life. This prophetic vision bore fruit in that some treasures Sutzkever had secretly buried were later recovered and have enriched us through YIVO.

I won't attempt a complete translation, but here are a few thoughts about it in English:

Caverns, split open under my axe! Before the bullet finds me, I bring you a packet of gifts: Old pages of Talmud. Words fashioned on parchment through thousands of harrowing years.

As though I were shielding an infant, I run holding voices of Jews; I grope blindly; The soul shall not be murdered.

O my arms, reach, reach into fire; Exult, for the essence endures! What anguish to witness a stray page of sacred words Borne off on a gust thick with smoke.

I choke on secret poems. I dig, I plant manuscripts;

When waves of despair dash upon me, I think then of Egypt: the story of kernels of wheat.

Louis Fridhandler

Re Moishe Kijak question [7.066]:

ikh hob far dir kayn nayes vegn di teme, ober es interesirt mir zayer fil. di Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade hubn arkhiv material vos ken aykh efsher aroyshelfn. oifn veb zenen zay: www.alba-valb.org

I have no news for you on this topic, but it interests me greatly. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Veterans have archive material that might be of help to you. Their web address is: www.alba-valb.org

marvin (meyer) engel Rockville, MD

As a child on our chicken farm in NJ in the 30's, this was a delicacy. We called it farkilte fus and it contained a great deal of knobl (garlic) and hard boiled eggs. The hard boiled eggs were cut in half exposing the golden color of the egg yolk. All of the boys in our family fought to get the eggs, for they had the flavor absorbed in them. It was used as an appetizer.

Philip Fishl" Kutner San Mateo, CA

Paul Glasser writes [7.066]: > ...linguists "normally" do not take it upon themselves to decide where a > dialect ends and a language begins

I'm puzzled about why you say this -- linguists take mutual intelligibility to be the dividing line between languages, as opposed to dialects. (All the while acknowledging that there are problem cases, to be sure. Nothing is easy, including classification.)

> ... ideology, otherwise known as politics, is what generally determines what > is a language and what is a dialect.

Yes -- for the layman (and therefore for the world at large). But not -- in principle -- for linguists.

Ellen Prince

My copy Weinreich lists foosnogl as "toe-nail". I don't understand that as a food reference except for a specialty that my mother made called "p-tchah" by her, but others called it "foos" because it was made from a calf's foot. This was a jellied calf's foot, and I have the recipe if you wish.

Stephen Berr